Pouches are always in fashion. Or rather, if they are not, they damn well should be. Our own Claire Napier is a big pouch advocate and has been a staunch pouch supporter since the ’90s, when Rob Liefeld and his ilk introduced superhero fashion to practicality: “When you’re wearing a pouch (or more), you can…
Giles #1: The Earth is Doomed
Giles #1 Joss Whedon and Erika Alexander (writers), Jon Lam (artist), Dan Jackson (colorist), Steve Morris (cover artist) Dark Horse February 2018 Giles is one of my favorite characters in all of the lovable Buffyverse, but the new mystery mini-series Giles is rubbing me the wrong way. I was so looking forward to it, too.
Academic Conference Asks: What Makes Women Monstrous?
Women are often called monsters. Even before the internet made trolling a favorite misogynist past time, women’s bodies, functions, and perceptions have been fair game for name calling. I joined a wonderful group of scholars to discuss what after all is so “monstrous” about women at the Monstrous Women Conference this last May in at…
Comics Academe: Christine Hoff Kraemer on Graven Images
Rather than looking inward, I decided that for this Comics Academe, I’d like to talk to someone else in the field of comics. I keep saying that it’s important for scholars in “new” fields like comics to learn from each other and not lose collective knowledge, so I thought I would do as I say!…
Comics Academe Roundtable: Teaching Bitch Planet
Since the publication of the first issue of Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro in December of 2014, many people, inside and outside of academia, have pointed to the comic, the related backmatter and essays, and even the community that has formed around it–as embodied by the many tattoos of the…
Whaleish Work in the Disciplines: Comics and Religion Swimming Around
The last time you heard from me—and it’s been a while—I was urging academics who love comics to find their peers and work with them. I took my own advice! I was delighted to be a part of the Comics and Sacred Texts Symposium at Haverford College. It was wonderful to collaborate with scholars that…
Comics Academe: How To Write a Comics Dissertation
Out there, somewhere, is a woman who writes about comics who wants to turn that writing to a comics dissertation or thesis, or at least I sure hope there is! The field is wide open and ready for more. For the uninitiated, a dissertation or thesis is the long essay or project that serves as…
The Apocalypse Isn’t The End of the World: Ragnarök and Reading Comics Narratives
After the initial media head-scratching about the announced title “Thor 3: Ragnarok,” people have latched on to the idea that the 2016 Thor movie will be about the end of the world. As a religion scholar, I have a hundred things to say about this! I’ll give you a few pointers for watching the end…
The Tangled Relationship Between Religion and Comics (Part Two)
In part one of this tangle, I talked about four ways I conceive of the relationship between comics and religion: comics as religion, comics in religion, religion in comics, and religion and comics in dialogue. In this month’s installation, I’ll give you second two categories (religion in comics and religion and comics in dialogue)—but be…
The Tangled Relationship Between Comics and Religion (Part One)
My cocktail party introduction of myself is basically, “I’m a religion scholar working on a dissertation that uses a comics to interpret religious text.” Maybe it’s not the smoothest handshake, but it’s a place to start. When I tell people this, I occasionally get quizzical looks from strangers who wonder how comics relate to religion…
Academic Secret Identities: Being She-Hulk or Batgirl
Elizabeth Coody is back with her second guest post for Comics Academe! Pitching and drafting this before the Goyer commentary made waves, Elizabeth’s looking at She-Hulk from the perspective that makes most sense to her. Find Elizabeth’s previous Comics Academe entry Christianity, Comics, and the Classroom here, and enjoy the applied fandom below!
Comics Academe: Christianity, Comics, and the Classroom
Comics! Academics! The Bible?! When I tell people I study the Bible and comics, I never quite know how they’re going to take it. Will they be more offended by the Bible part or the comics part? In my North American context, many people conflate the Bible and its intense study with very conservative Christianity, but…